Inking apparatus for printing machines



Oct. 5, 1948. w. G. THOMLINSON INK KING APPARATUS FOR PRINTING MACHINES Filed Sept. 10, 1946 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Oct. 5, 1948. we. THOMLINSON INKING APPARATUS FOR PRINTING MACHINES 5 sheets-sheet 2 Filed Sept. 10, 1946 Oct. 5, 1948. w. G. THOMLINSON INKING APPARATUS FOR PRINTING MACHINES Filed Sept. 10. 1946 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 dwlw Oct. 5, 1948. w. G. THOMLINSON mum APPARATUS FOR PRINTING mcnmss Filed Sept. 10, 1946 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Oct. 5, 1948. w. G. THIOMLINSON 1 2,450,494

HIKING APPARATUS FOR PRINTING MACHINES Filed Sept. 10, 1946 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 I I I2 FIG- 90 8 ll [3 [/0 II /4 3 5 1 A? w :I 3

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Patented Oct. 5, 1948 INKING APPARATUS FOR PRINTING MACHINES William Gibson Thomlinson, Glasgow, Scotland I Application September 10, 1946, Serial No. 695,973 In Great Britain September 18, 1945 4 Clairm. 1

. This invention relates to printing machines. and in particular to means for regulating the distribution of the ink on the inking rollers.

The object of the invention is to provide simple means of controlling the ink supply whereby to eliminate preliminary adjustment and maintain an approximately even film on the inking rollers which ink the iorme, thus saving considerable time in setting-up any particular printing job.

A practical embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a semi-diagrammatic view of a printing machine to which the invention is applied. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of an auxiliary roller, Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the same roller and Fig. 4 is a plan view of the roller, Fig. 5 is a large scale view of the tilting mechanism at one end of a roller, the mechanism at the other end of the roller being similar but of the opposite hand, and Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view at the end of a roller. Fig. 7 is an elevation of the roller traversing gear, and Fig. 8 is a plan view of the same gear. Figs. 9a, 9b, 9c and 9d are diagrams showing the roller in four different positions. Fig. 10 is a semi-diagrammatic cross section of a printing machine through the line A-A in Fig. 1.

In the drawings, I denotes a metallic shell forming an auxiliary roller, 2 denotes a ring attached to the metallic shell I, 3 denotes a boss encircled by the ring 2. The said boss 3 is formed with an oblong slot 4 through which passes a non-rotary polygonal bar 5 fitted in a bracket 8 secured to the frame 1 of the printing machine. I denotes main rollers'on which the auxiliary rollers I are adapted to run freely.

A spindle 9 is journalled in a bracket l secured to each slotted boss 3. One end of each spindle l carries a crank arm II furnished with a roller I2. The other end of the spindle carries an arm ll pivotally connected to a rod ll which, carries a two-armed pawl I pivoted at I5 to the rod ll, see P18. 8, and adapted to engage periodicaly a reciprocatory toothed bar It attached to a rod Ii which receives its reciprocating motion from a convenient existing shaft IS on the machine through the linkages shown in Fig. 10, I6 denotes teeth attached to the bar Ii.

A spring bar I1 slidably mounted on the rod 2 auxiliary roller I reaches the end of its travel in one direction. is a rider running freely on the main rollers 8; I9 are ink distributing rollers fed from an ink fountain shown conventionally at 2| are type inking or forme" rollers; 22 denotes an ink table adapted to reciprocate lengthwise of the machine, and 23 denotes a cylinder around which the sheet to be printed is wrapped.

In operation, assuming that the'auxiliary roller I has reached one end of its travel widthwise of the machine, the spring bar I! will have come into engagement with the stop I9 and will have been pushed to the right when viewed as in Fig. 4. The projection I8 on the spring bar II in engagement with the two-armed pawl I5 endeavors to move the pawl I5 to the right along with the slot 4 as the-roller I rises.

I l and bent to form a projection I8 is adapted to engage the two-armed pawl I5 by the projection I8 when thebar I1 is moved in one direction or the other. Stops I9 and I9 are mounted one at each end of the toothed bar I6 the appropriate one of said stops being each adapted to engage the adjacent end of the spring bar II when the bar II, but as the pawl is pivoted on the pin I5 located at the same side of the pawl Ii as the bar II the eflect is to swing the said pawl about the pin li in counter-clockwise direction when viewed as in Fig. 4. The left-hand arm (Fig. 4) of the pawl I5 will thus be swung into engagement with the toothed bar IS. The auxiliary roller I will be in the position shown in Fig. 9a.

In reciprocating, the toothed bar I6 will be moved to the right (see Fig. 4); one of the teeth of the bar It will engage the left-hand arm of the pawl I5 and urge it to the right. The pawl will move to the right and will carry with it the rod II, resulting in the arms I3 pivotally connected to the rod I4 at each end of the roller rotating in clockwise direction when viewed as in Fig. 6. Consequently, the spindles 9 and the crank arms II are also caused to rotate in clockwise direction, Fig. 6, resulting in the roller I! at the left-hand end of the auxiliary roller I, as

seen in the drawings, being lifted clear of the polygonal bar 5, the corresponding roller at the right-hand end of the auxiliary roller I pressed hard against the polygonal bar 5 until the pressure on the roller causes it to act as a fulcrum and to lift the right-hand end of the auxiliary roller l away from the main roller 8 on which it was revolving. The oblong slot 4 in the boss 3 permits the end of the roller I to rise, the

polygonal bar. 5 sliding to the bottom of the oblon The auxiliary roller I is now in the position shown in-Flg. 9b.

Continued movement of the bar It to the right moves the roller I along the main roller 8 until the said roller 1 reaches-the position shown in Fig. 9c. The direction of movement of the toothed bar It is now reversed and starts travel ling to the left when viewed'as in Fig. 4. The

tooth on the rack which had been urging the pawl II and consequently the bar I towards the rightnow moves to the left in unison with the rack and out of contact with the pawl l5, and the right-hand end of the roller I, having now nothing to support it, drops gently back into contact with the main roller 8 below and takes up the position shown in Fig. 9d. 7

Continued movement of the bar I 6 to the left brings another tooth past the pawl l5 which trips over this other tooth by flexure of the bar l1, said other tooth being nearer that end of the toothed bar 16 to which the roller I is travelling than the first mentioned tooth. When the bar I6 is again moved to the right, the last mentioned tooth on the bar it will engage the same end of the pawl 15 which is still urged towards the bar I by the spring bar H in the same manner as the first mentioned tooth and the cycle will be repeated, the auxiliary roller I being moved in tilted position a further distance to the right.

These cycles are repeated until the auxiliary roller i reaches the right-hand end of the main roller 8 whereupon a stop i9 on the right-hand end of the bar l6 engages the right-hand end of the spring bar I! as viewed in Fig. 4 and pushes it to the left; the projection I8 on the said spring bar I! in engagement with the two-armed pawl i5 endeavors to move the said pawl to the left along with the bar H, the effect being to swing the pawl l5 about the pin i5 in clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 4. As the pawl is pivoted on the pin I5 the right-hand arm of the pawl I5 is swung into engagement with the bar l8, whereupon the movements above described will be performed in reverse, the roller I now moving across the main roller 8 in steps to the left.

For the sake of clarity only one auxiliary roller is shown in the detail figures of the drawings but normally two are used as shown in Fig. 1. The two rollers are set initially at opposite ends of their respective main roller and travel in opposite directions.

What is claimed is:

1. In a printing machine having at least one main inking roller disposed widthwise of the machine, ink distributing mechanism comprising at least one auxiliary roller adapted to make line contact with said main inking roller, means to tilt said auxiliary roller relatively to the surface of said main inking roller so that only one end of said auxiliary roller remains in contact with said main inking roller. means to move the tilted aux-" iliary roller in steps widthwise of the machine,

.and means to'reversethe direction of movement of said auxiliary roller when its travel in one direction has been completed.

2. Ink distributing mechanism as claimed in claim 1 in which the auxiliary roller comprises a cylindrical shell having bosses, one at each end of said shell and each formed with an oblong slot, rings, one encircling each boss, a polygonal rotate on said bosses, the slots being of such dimensions a to permit tilting movement of said shell relatively to said bar.

3. Ink distributing mechanism as claimed in claim 1 in which the auxiliary roller comprises a' cylindrical shell having slotted bosses. one at each end of the shell, and a bar penetrating the slots in said bosses, and in which the means for tilting the auxiliary roller and moving it in steps widthwise of the machine includes a rod extending and movable widthwise of the machine, rocking spindles each supported by a boss, two arms pivotally attached to said rod, said arms being each fixed at the end remote from the rod to its respective spindle, a crank attached to each spindie at the end of the spindle remote from the respective arm, a fulcrum roller carried by each crank, each fulcrum roller being positioned above and engageable with said bar on movement of said rod in one direction whereby to lift the respective boss and to tilt the auxiliary roller, a pawl pivoted on said rod, and a toothed bar reciprocable widthwise of the machine and periodically engageable by said pawl, whereby reciprocatory movement of the toothed bar is communicated in steps to said rod and thereby to the auxiliary roller.

4. Ink distributing mechanism as claimed in claim 1 in which the mean for moving the auxiliary roller in steps widthwise of the machine includes a rod extending and movable widthwise of the machine, a two-armed pawl pivoted on said rod, and a toothed bar reciprocable widthwise of the machine and periodically engageable by said pawl, and the means for reversing the direction of movement of the auxiliary roller includes a spring bar slidably mounted on the rod and having a projection adapted to come into contact with either of the arms of said pawl, and a stop at each end of the toothed bar adapted to engage said spring bar and cause it to be slid widthwise of the machine when the auxiliary roller has come to the end of its travel in one direction.

WILLIAM GIBSON THOMLINSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

